Giants’ Madison Bumgarner to miss 1 or 2 starts with 2 ailments

Updated 7:38 pm, Sunday, March 13, 2016

Madison Bumgarn
er has a nerve injury in his left foot and feels discom
fort in his right ribcage, but says, “There’s no sense making them a big deal.”

Madison Bumgarn
er has a nerve injury in his left foot and feels discom
fort in his right ribcage, but says, “There’s no sense making them a big deal.”

Photo: Michael Macor, The Chronicle

Giants’ Madison Bumgarner to miss 1 or 2 starts with 2 ailments

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SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — The Giants’ injury story this spring has been death by a thousand paper cuts, which is probably better than one or two big blows. The latest to be stung by seemingly minor injuries is one of the top names on the team, Madison Bumgarner.

The left-hander will miss one or two starts with two ailments, neither of which he believes will prevent him from his scheduled Opening Day start in Milwaukee on April 4.

Bumgarner revealed he has dealt since the offseason with a nerve injury, or neuroma, between the third and fourth joints on the bottom of his left foot, which causes intermittent and considerable pain.

The second injury, which occurred recently, is discomfort in his right rib cage just below his chest.

Bumgarner has pitched through the foot injury this spring. He first felt the rib-cage pain while swinging a bat in the cage late last week and had an MRI exam that ruled out a dreaded oblique strain.

“They’re two things that aren’t a big deal,” Bumgarner said before Sunday’s game against the Padres, which he was supposed to start. “There’s no sense making them a big deal. So we’re going to skip a start or two just to be safe.”

Once the staff decided to pull Bumgarner from the rotation, he got a cortisone shot in the foot to calm that injury. The 26-year-old said the medical staff already had been “making progress” with it.

As for the rib-cage injury, Bumgarner said, “I feel like it’s going to get batter really quickly.”

In fact, Bumgarner played catch Saturday despite the injuries and plans to do so again in a day or two.

Bumgarner said this would be a “different story” in the regular season and he would pitch. In spring training, it’s not as important.

“It’s not anything too serious,” he said. “We just don’t want it to turn into anything too serious by making spring training starts.”

Bumgarner has appeared twice in the Cactus League and has raised his pitch count into the 50s. If he misses two starts, he still would have two more to get his pitch count into the 80s, the end-of-spring goal for every starter.

Chris Heston, who increasingly looks like he will take Matt Cain’s first scheduled start in the regular season for the second consecutive year, started against the Padres in Bumgarner’s place Sunday and did a fair impression of the Big Man.

Heston easily had the best start by a Giants pitcher this spring, holding San Diego to a Jose Pirela double in four innings.

After Brandon Crawford committed an error to start the game, Heston retired the next nine Padres, four on strikeouts, including Pirela, Matt Kemp and Yangervis Solarte in the first inning after the error.

“I felt really good,” Heston said. “I’m excited where I’m at.”

Heston is in a great spot as the so-called sixth starter. The Jeff Samardzija and Johnny Cueto signings knocked Heston out of the rotation on paper — tough for someone who threw a no-hitter last season — but he learned last year how quickly he might be needed.

He did not make the team out of spring training, but wound up starting the third game of the season when Cain went on the disabled list.

Heston came to camp this spring as a swingman. He also arrived packing 20 pounds he regained after losing the weight as he pitched last season, partially causing his late-year struggles. Heston hopes to stay at 220 pounds throughout 2016 to maintain strength and drive off the mound.

“I’m one year wiser,” he said. “You kind of know now what to expect when it comes to travel to other cities, where you can eat and the food they have to offer. It’s about being adamant and making sure I’m not skipping meals, and eating as much as possible.

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